end of June already?

It has gone by fast hasn't it?

A month ago this little cutie was born, yes she is already a month old.

Then we had the arrival of this little cutie two weeks later:

Plus our son and girlfriend got engaged. No photos to share there, they are pretty private people.

I managed to get the basement ceilings and walls primed.  Shouldn't have been as hard a job as it was, but being sick isn't helping the situation.

So all in all a pretty exciting month for us around here.  How was your June?

Babies, weather, grass and drywall...........

Babies:

No babies yet.  One should have been here yesterday but is hanging in there.  The other will be here in less than two weeks.  If first baby is reluctant to pop out itself, then it will be helped out the same day as number two baby.............

Weather:

Stinking hot and humid............no I am not happy!

Grass:

Got the hole filled up and new grass laid last week or the week before.  Anyhow, I was helping dh at the time so I couldn't "supervise" the "boys" when they were laying the new turf.  Suffice to say it looks like a dogs dinner.  So we dh sprinkled  soil and grass seed over where they had missed.  Along comes a big water truck with what looks like a fireman's hose on it that's operated from inside the truck and dumps hundreds of gallons of water on the grass in a matter of seconds.  I last saw the grass seed and soil sailing away down the street............

Oh by the way, the gardeners are here once a week.  I have no comment about how they are getting on, other than my neighbours weeds look very healthy!  We are taking care of our own for the most part, saves me getting too stressed out at the dimwits!

Drywall:

Well that is coming along.  It will be all done by Tuesday and for what little I have seen looks okay, I refuse to go down there and have a nervous breakdown at the mess.  I think their aim in life is to make the biggest mess possible for me to tidy up..........I am neurotic when it comes to drywall dust and really, really hate it, so in a state about it all...........

Did pick up a big pail of primer/undercoat so will make a start on that next weekend.  The guys did say that I could paint the day after they leave?  It will take me the rest of the week to tidy up the mess down there and try and get rid of the dust in the rest of the house.

A very important word..........

Our Little Munchkin has learned this word and uses it very, very regularly.......WHY???

Here she is at school busy as always.  Her mum's hair was up in a bun, and she wanted hers up in a bun..........

We are on baby watch now, as one is due in 10 days and the other on June 9th (c-section).

Been a bit sidetracked for a couple of days,

not sure doing what but enough to have "forgotten" to do blog post's.

Anyway here are a couple of things I have been thinking about/doing.

Actually got a little bit of gardening done, but for the past three days we have had frost on the rooftops in a morning, so need to wait a little longer before putting out any tender plants/annuals.

Been thinking about those poor folk in Fort McMurray, Alberta.  I can't begin to imagine what they have gone through and are going through.



Click here to read a recent article on the situation.

I am making progress on my Necessary Clutch that I mentioned here.  This one is going to be far from perfect, as I am figuring out things as I go along.  Suffice to say I know what I am NOT going to do the next time I make one.

Mother's Day has been and gone for another year.  Got to see the kids so that is good.

"R" is down to less than three weeks now and dd is around a month.  Glad when they have both had the babies, as both are looking weary now.

Got the drywall guy sorted out and he should be here before the end of the month.  Had the hydro inspector in to inspect dh's electrical work as we took out a permit because we had visions of one of our neighbours reporting us........yes I am being serious.

Funny thing the inspector was coming on a Thursday and the inspector was a woman.  A guy knocked on the door on a Wednesday and said he was the inspector and he knew he was a day early.  First thing out of my mouth is "you're supposed to be a woman?"

The lady inspector was on maternity leave and he was just filling in.  Luckily dh picked up his phone so he could tell the inspector what's what, as I am clueless.  We got the all important sticker so that's good.

Picked up some of the drywall/plaster board, to save us some money, and did indeed save $69 + 13% tax and doing that.  The other things we need we will have to get delivered ($50 charge) as dh's truck is not big enough.  Did you know the 8 ' x 4 ' sheets of Lite drywall are still flipping heavy???  Dh has a fancy handle thing he can use to lift them one at a time down the basement.  Plus we have the boys coming over on the long weekend, to move the bigger sheets down the basement for us.

We are buying the supplies and the guy is providing the labour.

Well that's it for today, need to get on.  Will be back tomorrow, have a good one!

Stinking cute or what?

I really enjoy a magazine called Pretty Patches and in the March edition there was a pattern for Archie The Alien.

I decided to make one for our new granddaughter who is due in June, in some of the fabric scraps from her room.  I will share with you in another post everything from the nursery.

 She is so stinking cute isn't she?

Now we don't know the sex of the other baby due later this month, but in case it's a boy (mother thinks it will be, I don't) I made another Alien from the scraps of fabric from one of the two quilts I made for that grandchild.

Now if the baby is a girl, I will give this one to Our Little Man, as it is very boyish.

Don't they make a cute couple......

I know are you shocked, to see a post from me???

I know I am.  Can't believe it's been two months since I have last posted.  So I guess a catch up is in order.

The snow has gone..........well I hope so....there is a rain/snow mix forecast for Monday.  I had turned off the heating, but had to put that back on.

The count down has began for the babies.  One should be here within the month, the other a week or so later.  So I have been sewing up a storm for the new babies and the older grandchildren.  I will share over the next few days.

As far as renovating the basement goes I am ready to pull out my hair/hit my head against the wall with trying to find a contractor to drywall the basement.  So far this has what has happened:

1. First contractor showed up more or less on time, however a week and a half later we are still waiting for a quote?  Should have it by the first of the week.......
2. Second came, measured up and called two days later saying the job was too big for him?????
3. Via Facebook, promised to call two times, still waiting ........
4. Called a one recommended by a local hardware store, "he may call back when he gets time!"
5. Called another one again recommended by local hardware store.  Made an appointment never turned up and never called??
6. Facebook contact turned up, and discovered he hangs the drywall but does not do the sanding and taping??
7. Called another recommended by another local hardware store.  Didn't call when he said, but did two days later and turned up on time when he said.  He was actually nice and knew what he was talking about and can do it by the end of May/beginning of June; just waiting for a quote from him.

If people don't want the job, just tell me.  If you are going to be late, just call me.  If you have to cancel, fine just let me know..........that's not asking a lot in my opinion?

If I can get a quote from number 1 and compare it with number 7, we will go with number 7.  At this point I just want it done.  Dh is on doing the electrics and will be done by the end of May.

I have made a big pot of meat sauce using this recipe, so now to go and make a couple of things with it, including a lasagna.  The sauce does look good though:

Of course more has happened, will fill you in over the next few days.  If you are reading this thank you for sticking by me!!

All ready for the big day........

Got all the gnomes done for Our Little Man's birthday party.  Here they are all lined up ready to go:

I then made a gnome and baby hat set for a couple who are expecting in January and are going to the party.

I used a different yarn for the set and as they are not going to find out the sex of the baby, I thought the colour was appropriate for both a boy or girl.  I would love to make this is a variegated grey yarn.

So far I have five babies and a wedding in the first four months of 2016.  So more baby gift sets and a baby quilt to make.  Better make a start on them!

Simple Baby Hat - Yarn Along

Managed to get one small finish this week a simple baby hat.  I have also started "The Mermaid Chair," by Sue Monk Kidd on my Kobo.  I sent a request in electronically back in March to order this book for the Kobo and I got it this week.  I guess if they get numerous requests for certain e-books, when funds allow they order them.

 I used this pattern for this hat,  Super simple and didn't tax my knitting skills too much.  I also love this type of hat for little ones.  I knit it in the newborn size, and from that 50g ball of cotton yarn I have a bit left.  

This is part of a gift for a newborn called Hannah who was born at the beginning of the month.  I would love to fill you in on more information of this little one, but it was like pulling teeth getting the name out of my dh.  You know men, not really fussed about the details!!

Back to the book, I reviewed "The Invention of Wings," and "The Secret Life of Bees," earlier in the year.  Both also by Sue Monk Kidd.

For more Yarn Along Posts with Ginny, please click on this link.

Grocery Shopping and other things....

Had to go into town on Tuesday for gas for the car and lawn tractor, paid $1.29 per litre.  So I called into the grocery store to pick up a few things.  Spent $15.84 and had $10.90 in savings.  The granola bars were free, the yogurt was only 99 cents a container, all the bread was half price, the pizza was half price and the cheese was only $3.33, again a super deal.

I think we all know that Will and Kate had a baby boy.  Did you see the photos of the family?  Well when he brought out the baby in his car seat, we had something in common with them.  That is the same car seat as dd and hubby have got for their little girl, she also has the stroller to go with it.  You can see the stroller here and the car seat here.  We were able to take advantage of a promotion in June and got the car seat for free when we bought the stroller, which saved us a couple hundred dollars.

I posted another book review here.

When we were out the other day saw that the Hallmark stores were advertising their Christmas decorations.  It's July for goodness sakes!!! Saying that I ordered the winter wood yesterday, it's coming some time next week.  Paying $290 a bush cord and I am ordering my usual three bush cords.  Must think up an excuse to invite the kids up for lunch!!!

Finally a couple of photos I took with my camera of out back:

Both photos were taken on Tuesday evening.

Wow things have changed a lot.

On Tuesday I went with "R" to the hospital for her ultrasound appointment.  Her dh couldn't make it, so I offered to go with her.  The things those machine's can show you is marvelous.  When I had my kids the husbands weren't  even allowed in for the ultrasound.  They couldn't show as much as they do now.  I had to say I was very fascinated with it all.

"R's" baby is now 3lb 3oz and is in the breach position.  She is 31 weeks, so she is on schedule weight wise for the little one and there is plenty of time for the baby to turn.  Other than that both are as healthy as horses!!  I will say I couldn't make head nor tail of what the technician was looking at, but the baby was all curled up in the fetal position and could see the baby when she pointed it out to me.  I was going to stay behind so I could find out what sex the baby is, but "R" wouldn't let me as she doesn't want to know what sex the baby is!!!  Must say I am really looking forward to seeing the little one in January.

On a sadder note though, I would love to ask for your prayers regarding another family.  A friend of dd has just had triplets that weren't due until the end of February next year.  There are two girls and a boy.  Unfortunately one of the girls died right away.  The other girl and boy, are only around 1lb and 1lb 8oz in weight.  They will be in hospital until next February at least.  The parents as well as the babies will need all the the prayers that we can give them.

Saturday, a busy day around here......

As you read this on Sunday, we will be up north celebrating ds birthday. Its a long day for us but enjoyable, as we get to spend some time with ds.

We finally got a lawn tractor purchased, we bought this one. It never goes on sale, but this weekend at Sears they had a save 5% GST (tax) on things, so we ended up getting a 5% discount which is better than nothing. We are having it delivered on May 6th to the new house, so that's good. I know its not the best one, but its what we could afford, and we haven't seen a second hand one that we like.

We spent the morning doing more packing and clearing out. Plus dh did maintenance work on the pressure washer, lawn mower and whipper snipper (cuts edges of grass.)

In the afternoon I popped down to the grocery store to pick up some odds and ends. When I drove into the parking lot there was a police cruiser parked outside the front door, with its door's and trunk (boot) wide open and all the lights flashing. So of course my first thought is, now what!!! Anyhow the closer I got, all I could hear was loud music, it was music from Grease. So figured it couldn't be anything too drastic. What it was they were filling a cruiser with food for the food bank. So I picked up some lentils, cereal and pudding snacks for them. They gave you a list of what they were looking for.

Now one thing they were looking for was baby food and cereal. As you probably know my guys are too old for baby food, so can't say I am familiar with the prices etc. I was shocked though when I walked down the baby food aisles to find that a small jar of baby food was 77 cents, a larger jar was 99 cents. Baby milk powder was $25 a can. That is very expensive, add to that your diapers and all the other things babies need and it all adds up.

I did breast feed ds for around 10 days and gave up. Didn't even bother with dd and she was on solids at six weeks old, as we couldn't keep her full. I did use baby cereal and the odd jar of food, but I remember making my own pureed peas and carrots, or apple sauce etc. I still do make my own apple sauce for dh's lunches. I pick up the reduced apples 6 for 99 cents and cook and puree them myself.

We had cloth diapers for both kids and it didn't do them any harm. I suppose today is all about convenience isn't it?

I'm a bit confused???

Let me first say, my "baby" will be 23 years of age in November. So I am not overly familiar with baby clothes, etc. Anyhow an email pen pal is expecting a boy in a couple of weeks times. So I went to the store to pick up a couple of things. She is having a boy and as they live in Australia, I figured I would get something for when he is around 6 months old, and by that time it will be the height of summer over there. You see I thought this through.

Anyhow here is what I got, pretty cute eh? They are all for ages 6 to 9 months old.



I then saw this little outfit and thought this was also cute. However, it says its for an 18 month old? It looked a little small to me.



So when I got it home I compared it to the other ones and honestly there is hardly any difference between the sizes.



They are all made by the same company, so what's up? I guess you really can't go with the sizes they say, can you?